Opening attachment for doors



No. 750,363. PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904. E. F; HICKS.

OPENING ATTACHMENT .POR DOORS.

APPLICATION IILBD OUT. 31, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

nuantoz Patented .Tanuary 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

EMERY E. HICKS, OF WHITEHALL, ILLINOIS.

OPENING ATTACHMENT FOR DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 750,363, dated January26, 1904.

Application filed October 31, 1903. Serial No. 179,319. (No model.)

1'0 (M6 w/wm/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMERY F. HIoKs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Whitehall, in the county of Greene and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Opening Attachmentsfor Doors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to door attachments, and more particularly fordoors which require frequent opening; and my invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction and combination of parts, as willbe hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

The object of my invention, among others, is to provide simple thoughreliably elficient means whereby a door may be easily opened, as by thefoot of the person desiring to enter.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter made clearly apparent,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a partof this application, and in which- Figure 1 shows a perspective view ofmy invention complete as applied to an ordinary screen-door. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of my invention as shown in Fig. 1, the open position ofthe door being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a detail viewshowing a section looking in the direction indicated by the arrows andas shown by dotted lines 3 3 in Fig. 2.

The various details of my invention and cooperating accessories will bereferred to by numerals, the same numeral applying to a similar partthroughout the several views.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates a door-frame ortrim of the usual or any preferred construction, while 2 designates ascreen-door, though my invention may be applied to any other variety ofdoor, as will be obvious. I

To the upper end of the door I secure the bracket 3, having theupwardlyextending finger 4, and designed to engage said finger is thearm 5 of the pulley-wheel 6, said arm being rigidly secured to saidpulley-wheel or made an integral part thereof, as more clearly shown inFig. 2.

' The pulley wheel or member 6 is rotatably mounted between thebracket-arms 7, and as said pulley 6 is grooved on its periphery it willreceive or accommodate the controlling cord or cable 8, one end of whichis attached to the arm 5 near its point of union with the member 6, asby means of the staple or screweye or equivalent 9, as clearly set forthin Fig. 2. The cord 8 is thence passed around the pulley member 6 andextended parallel with the arm 5 and thence through the screw-eye orpulley 10 and thence downward in engagement with the lever 11, having afree or treadle end 12, while the opposite end is pivotally secured to acontiguous part of the door-frame, as by the anchoring screw or bolt 13or equivalent thereof, and it is therefore obvious that by, a downwardmovement of the lever 11, as by a pressure of the footupon thetreadle-terminal 12, the pulley member 6 will be caused to partiallyrotate, while the arm 5 will be moved outward against the finger or lug4, thereby causing the door to instantly open, and since the door isheld normally closed by means of the spring 1 1 it is obvious that whenpressure is released from the lever 11 the door will automaticallyclose.

I prefer to so construct the lug or finger 4 that it will be providedwith an antifrictionroller to engage the outer face of the arm 5,thereby reducing the friction to a minimum and insuring that a light andsudden pressure upon the lever 11 will overcome the tension of thespring 14: and cause the door to fly open, it being understood that acoiled spring, as indicated by the numeral 15, properly connected at oneend to the pulley 6 and at the other end to one of the bracket-arms 7,will insure that the arm will be restored to its normal position orsubstantially parallel with the doorframe.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a simple though reliablyefficient mechanism whereby a door may be instantly opened and that thecontrolling parts will all be restored automatically to the initial ornormal position ready for a second operation. It is obvious,

however, that the coiled spring 15 may be made heavier and placed undersuflicient tension to close the door 2, and thus enabling me to dispensewith the spring 14. In order to accomplish this result, I secure a rod16 to the outer edge of the arm 5 and in such a manner as to form a slotor way, in which travels the finger &, thereby insuring that the doorwill be closed suitable supporting-brackets for said pulleywheel, afinger 4 having an antifriction-roller thereon adapted to lie in thepath of the arm 5, a bracket 3 designed to hold said finger in position,a cable connecting said pulley-Wheel and lever, whereby a downwardmovement of the lever will open the door, one end of said cable beingsecured to the arm 5 adjacent to the pulley-wheel 6 and lying in theperipheral groove in said wheel, and a spring 15 carried by saidpulley-wheel and designed to return said wheel and arm 5 to theirnormally inward position, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of'two witnesses.

. EMERY F. HICKS. Witnesses:

GEORGE GARDINER, W. H. HICKS.

